Introduction: With aggressive designs and attractive price points, Phenix Rods has really made a lot of positive gains in the market place over the last several years. Their MBX Classic and Recon series of rods are now staples in tackle stores nationwide. Today we take a closer look at a rod in their latest series with our review of the MX72H, a seven foot two inch, heavy powered stick that's part of the M1 lineup.

Phenix M1 MX72H Specifications

Material

Proprietary Nanotube Carbon Blank

Length

7'-2"

Line Wt.

10 - 25lb

Lure Wt.

1/2 - 1 1/4 oz

Pieces

one

Guides

11 + tip off brand SiC inserts /SS frame

Rear Handle Length

10 inches

Power Rating

Heavy

Taper

Extra-Fast

Rod Weight

4 ounces

Origin

Made in China

MSRP

$178

Introducing the M1 MX72H.

Quality/Construction: The M1 rods from Phenix feature a mix of a lot of materials in the handle design. We bring this up because the more you mix materials and colors, the greater chance you have of something going awry during assembly. Fortunately, for Phenix most everything came together really well on the model we chose for review.

Quality Ratings for Phenix M1 MX72H

Finish (1-5)

Grip (1-5)

Epoxy (1-5)

Blank (1-2)

Guides (1-2)

Total

Possible

Rating (= Tot/Pos * 10)

4

3

4

2

2

15

19

7.89

This rod features a glossy finish applied what appears to be over
an unsanded blank. The result is a very unique glow in the sun.

The blank on our MX72H features a glossy finish over what appears to be an unsanded blank. The gloss evens out the surface, but underneath this clear coat, you can still see the pattern of the original, unsanded blank. The result is very interesting.

Aluminum to compressed cork to Eva to compressed cork to aluminum with a color accent band underneath to the plastic butt cap - a lot of materials to mix together and a lot of seams for potential misalignment.

The rod's grip is a mix of compressed cork and two different colors of EVA foam. There is a slight alignment issue with the rear grip and the reel seat on our test rod, but otherwise, the rod blank and guides are straight and perfectly aligned.

Yet the only issue we found, and it's a small one, was at the top of this joint between the rear grip and the reel seat.

Performance:
Out on the water, we matched up our MX72H with a Abu Garcia Revo SX reel. Cost for this entire combo was right around $365 after tax, so we're talking about a mid-tier combo when all is said and done.

Checking out how the MX72H loads.

Casting: Right away in casting we could tell the MX72H was not a typical "heavy" powered rod. This stick loads very easily despite its rated, extra-fast taper, and it makes an excellent pitching stick as well. Handling of this stick is much more in line with other
brand's "medium heavy" offerings yet this stick handles one ounce baits just fine too. That's not something a typical "medium heavy" powered rod can do.

Phenix makes use of several different reel seats throughout the M1 series of rods. The MX72H has our favorite - Phenix's own, offset split reel seat.

Sensitivity: Phenix makes use of what they've termed "core armor carbon nanotubes" in the blank of all their M1 rods. Translation, they're using a nano-resin to bind the carbon material in their blanks. The natural tendency is to think "more sensitive" when we hear the term "nano" in reference to rod tubes and Phenix claims as much in their marketing materials, but out on the water we didn't find the MX72H to be anything extraordinary. In fact, personally, I tend to prefer the sensitivity of the Recon series of rods over these.

Phenix enhances all areas of this reel seat with a "soft touch" coating.